Like a Melting Pot
by NeonGenesisMariChan
Summary: AU. What do you get when you mix nine best friends in an apartment on a Friday night? Maybe a pair cooking challenge that they'll never forget. (NaLu, Gruvia, Jerza, GaLe, and implied Baccana)
1. Step 1: Identify the Problem

Hey guys, so I had this idea a couple days ago when I was hanging out with a friend who decided that we should end up cooking because it's a fun thing to do with friends lol. Thus, this fic was born :)

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately for me, Fairy Tail is owned by Hiro Mashima who is my all time favorite mangaka and I aspire to be him. *bows***

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"Well that movie blowed."

"I know."

"This is why I hate foreign films."

"You hate foreign films because you're uncultured as shit."

The nine young adults groaned as the blonde opened the door to the apartment that she shared with two of the other girls. When the door opened they all stalked in and threw themselves on the nearest piece of furniture that they could find. The raven haired male let himself sink into his end of the couch, "Can you believe we actually waited three hours in line for that?"

The pink haired male next to him sighed, "I know. Who's dumb idea was it to see that anyway?"

Without hesitation the others yelled out, "LUCY!"

Lucy shrugged, "I'm sorry guys. I thought it was very Hemingway-esque..."

"You're Hemingway-esque." The pink haired male responded mockingly.

Lucy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. She looked over at the petite bluenette who smiled understandingly, "It's okay Lu-chan...it wasn't all bad."

"Thanks Levy."

"Really? Because it seemed like a waste of time to me.." The long, dark haired male spoke as he fidgeted in his seat.

"Gajeel! That's rude!" Levy mentioned.

Lucy didn't react though, Gajeel was right. Her stupid movie had been a waste of time and a waste of money. She looked at the bored group of friends that surrounded her: Gray was sitting shirtless in the corner of the couch with Juvia hovering near him on the arm rest, Jellal was to the left of them sitting patiently in the recliner, Natsu was busy groaning in the middle of the couch with Lucy to his right and Erza slumped over her arm rest, Gajeel was sitting cross legged on the floor with Levy right next to him, Cana was sprawled out on the nearby bean bag chair. Lucy watched as the brunette clutched her stomach as it made a loud noise.

"Yo. I am starving." The brunette spoke as she jumped out of the bean bag chair.

The redhead shrugged, "Didn't do groceries. Nothing to eat."

Everyone groaned.

Gajeel scoffed, "So now what Scarlet? We starve?"

"I'm not saying that...but I'm not saying not to neither."

"Rude."

Cana sighed as she ran a hand through her long brown hair. She walked over to the fridge and the pantry, there was nothing that would be considered a meal for all of them but there were a few ingredients laying around. She smiled mischievously as she ran back over to the group, "I'VE GOT AN EXCELLENT CANA IDEA!"

Everyone looked over at Cana and groaned. "No offense Cana-san, but I think we're all tired of 'Cana' ideas..." Juvia muttered as she slumped over.

Cana rolled her eyes, "Pffft...whatever. ANYWAY how about we have a little friendly competition?"

Natsu's eyes lit up, "Competition?"

"Yah, we'll be in teams and have to cook a meal using the ingredients we have in the house...not too much because Erzie here didn't do groceries..."

Everyone exchanged skeptical looks, "I don't know Cana..." Gray spoke as he ran a hand through his hair.

Cana placed her palms up, "Don't worry about it. Everyone will balance each other out! Hmm...how about..." She glanced around the room, "Gray and Juvia, Gajeel and Levy, Natsu and Lucy and Jellal and Erza."

"What about you?"

"I'll be the judge!"

"How's that fair?!"

"Because I'm the hungriest...AND it was my idea."

"Okay..." Gray started, "but did you really just pick people sitting next to each other?"

Cana stuck her tongue out at the raven haired male, "Nuh-uh. Jellal and Erza are sitting on opposite sides of the room!"

"I mean we were the only one's left..."

"SHUT IT FERNANDES. Okay, so I'll sit here...you guys go cook...I'll give you an hour and a half." Cana chuckled as she ushered them into the kitchen.

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So yeah, short chapter since it's just a little introductory thing that popped into my head lol. Hopefully, we'll be able to go somewhere with this.

As always, I hope you enjoy and feel free to leave a review!

~Arigato, Mari :)


	2. Step 2: Approach the Scenario

It's time for another chapter!

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately for me, Fairy Tail is owned by Hiro Mashima who is my all time favorite mangaka and I aspire to be him. *bows***

* * *

The eight young adults stood in the kitchen, completely bewildered about what to do. Lucy rested her elbows on the counter behind her and sighed, she couldn't help but think that the gang's terrible night was her fault.

"If you're bored, hungry and really don't want to do this, clap your hands."

The blonde watched as a few of her friends did what Natsu suggested. She exchanged sympathetic looks with Levy.

"C'mon guys. It's not that bad...it could actually be fun."

Levy smiled at the older blue haired male, "Yeah!" She piped up, "Y'know a little friendly competition!"

Gajeel frowned, "I don't really see the fun in that."

"Juvia agrees."

Levy bit her lip in discomfort and let her head drop sadly, "Oh okay...I...I just.." Everyone gasped as tears began to fill the petite bluenette's eyes, prompting the large dark haired male to try to console her.

"You...y'know, I didn't mean it like that Shrimp, c'mon stop crying...please?"

Levy wiped her tears away and smiled brightly up at the male, "Okay. But only if you promise to do this Gajeel!"

Gajeel jumped back and Lucy laughed. Of course, Levy was a massive manipulative actress and Gajeel was her favorite person to mess with. The man scratched his ear, the four piercings shining as he did, "Uh...oh fine...fine Shrimp."

Levy clasped her hands together in excitement as she turned to her friends, "C'mon you guys too! Lu-chan won't it be fun?"

Lucy looked a bit unsure, "Well..." She nearly screamed as Jellal piped up next to her.

"Well, I'm in! How about you Erza?"

The redhead stood straight at the sound of her name, her face color now rivaling that of her hair as she nodded. Lucy almost snorted, Erza's 'little' crush on Jellal was so funny sometimes. She had been too busy focusing on Erza that she almost didn't hear Levy.

"And Lu-chan, you get to partner up with Natsu!"

Lucy tried her hardest to hide her blush as the smaller girl winked at her and Natsu stared over at her with his cheek in his palm nonchalantly. How dare Levy bring THAT up?! It was a secret that she had confided to the petite bluenette about a year ago. She watched as the male sighed and stretched in the position he was currently in a proceeded to tie his scarf around his waist.

"I guess this is a thing now, right Levy-chaun?"

Lucy watched as the bluenette winced at the obnoxious pet name that the pink haired male had given her but nodded all the same. Natsu turned his attention to Lucy as he slung his arm over her shoulder, "I guess we're partners huh Luce?"

"Y-ye-yes..." She mentally cursed herself, she was just making fun of Erza for doing the same thing. How hypocritical of her. She cautiously slid out of Natsu's grip and gave a cheeky smile, "So...do you know how to cook Natsu?"

The boy brightened up, "Of course! I cook all the time, right Gray?"

"Wrong."

Natsu scowled, "Well who asked you anyway?!"

"You just di-"

"SHUT UP."

Lucy smirked at the pinkette and put a hand out, causing the male to high five it. In all honesty, it could've been much worse. She watched Juvia awkwardly stand next to Gray as the male searched through the cabinets. He ran a hand through his hair and groaned, "Yo why don't you broads have food in here?"

Lucy, Levy and Erza exchanged looks. The redhead raised an eyebrow as she placed her hands on her hips, "Don't you listen Fullbuster? I SAID I didn't do groceries yet."

The pink haired male threw his head back and groaned, "How about a sandwich? Can I at least make a sandwich?"

"Don't have bread."

Everyone groaned. Jellal ran a hand through his hair as he leaned up against the counter and crossed his arms, "Seriously? Now it's starting to get pathetic..."

Erza felt her face flush, "What? Oh man, I knew I should've done groceries. It's not my fault, Lucy over there ate out all of the bread. All those carbs! Look at how fat she's getting!"

Lucy scoffed at Erza obnoxious rambling, because the redhead was only doing this due to Jellal, the blonde let it slide. Unfortunately her face got hot as the raven haired male spoke, "Yeah...come to think about it, you're getting kinda chubby."

Natsu rested his elbow on the table top and narrowed his eyes at her cautiously, "Yeah Luce, you might need to hit the gym."

The blonde frowned. The last thing she needed were these two commenting on her weight. She grabbed a nearby pot on the stove and a jar of tomato sauce from the pantry. She placed her hands on her hips and met eyes with Natsu who jumped back a bit, "Alright Dragneel. We're gonna make chili. Problem with that?"

The male gulped as he grabbed hold of the sauce jar, "N-nah...I'm cool with that...just, um, how do you make chili?"

The petite bluenette spoke as she gathered a few cloves of garlic and onions from the fridge and handed them to Lucy, "Oh, it's simple really...just a few ingredients...herbs and spices, beans...AH HA!" She grabbed a can of red kidney beans from the pantry and placed it on the counter, "The sauce will be used as a base...bring it to a boil, let it simmer and voila!"

Gajeel rolled his eyes and pulled the girl back to his side, "Oi Shrimp, stop aiding the enemy would ya'?"

"Enemy? You're taking this too seriously."

"Shut it Fullbuster."

Juvia twirled a strand of hair on her finger as she turned to face the raven haired male, "Now that Lucy-san and Natsu-san are making chili...what are we making Gray-sama?"

Gray shrugged as he dug his hands into his pants' pockets, "I don't know...it's not like there's a variety to choose from or anything." He recoiled as Erza sneered at him and ran a hand through his hair as he searched through the pantry. He pulled out a pack of spaghetti when he heard a gruff voice speak, "Oi! That's ours Fullbuster!"

"Seriously Gajeel? I didn't hear you say that you were doing spaghetti..."

"Gajeel, Gray's right. We haven't even decided yet!"

"I don't care, I said it's MINE."

"Oh really? Levy, do you want it? Because if you want it, I'll give it to you."

"I...I guess I do...thanks Gray."

Gray rolled his eyes as the large male snatched the box from his hand, he turned to Levy and smiled "No problem, McGarden." He turned back to face Juvia, "What do you want to make?"

"Oh! Um...J-Juvia...Juvia is fine with whatever Gray-sama w-wants..."

"Well that doesn't help solve the problem..." Juvia nodded sadly as the male spoke, "Uh, I guess we could make a smoothie drink right?"

"That's not exactly a meal, stripper."

"Nobody asked you." Gray went over to the blender and plugged it in. "You chicks have smoothie ingredients right?"

Levy nodded as Erza rolled her eyes, Lucy walked over to the fridge "We have...some blueberries, milk, cream, we always have sugar...and look I didn't even know we still had strawberries."

"When I go to the bakery for strawberry cake, I ALWAYS request extra strawberries on the side."

"So it looks like Erza being a fat ass helped you Fullbuster."

Erza grabbed Gajeel by his collar and thrust him against the nearby wall causing Levy to scream for them to stop and Jellal to smirk knowingly. Gray took the fruits from Lucy and ruffled her hair causing her to laugh, "Thanks blondie."

As Lucy was walking away, she felt a small hand grab her wrist, Juvia narrowed her eyes at her and scowled, "Leave Gray-sama alone. He is Juvia's partner." Gray rolled his eyes and set the ingredients down by the blender. The raven haired male watched the bluenette scowl at the blonde while the males bickered amongst themselves, Erza and Levy sneering at them. He walked back into the living room to find Cana sprawled out on the couch texting.

"Is there a reason we couldn't just order take out, Cana?"

The brunette looked up from her phone screen and over at Gray, "You got food money?"

"Nah."

"Question answered."

He rolled his eyes and took a seat next to her, peering down at her phone screen. "Texting Bacchus?"

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up."

Gray smirked as the girl's face turned red and snatched the phone from her grasp, "Oooh! Look at this!"

"Give it back Fullbuster! Get your stripper ass back in the kitchen bitch!"

Gray rolled his eyes as he tossed her back her phone, "Whatever. For the record, pairing me up with Juvia wasn't cool..."

"Why? Scared you guys are gonna accidentally fuck?"

"Tch."

"Oh I'm sorry, I forgot you're a gentleman. Make love?"

"None of the above."

"She's a cutie."

"That's an opinion."

"Lyon seems to think so."

"Shut up." Gray ran a hand through his hair as Cana chuckled, "What about you and Drunken Falcon...?"

"We might."

"Gross."

"Get back in the kitchen!"

"Fine." Gray raised his palms up as he slunk back into the kitchen. He eyed Juvia who was still yelling at Lucy, he cleared his throat...stupid Cana. He walked over to the bluenette and grabbed her away from the blonde, "C'mon Juvia. Let's start cooking."

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Gosh, this is such a fun story to write *giggles*

As usual, I would love for you to review and I hope that you enjoy!

~Arigato, Mari :)


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